Scientist from Tajikistan released in Australia

A scientist from Tajikistan, Abdusalom Odinazoda, has been released in Australia after being convicted in the country for “propaganda of terrorism” and spending 3.5 years in prison.

He was detained on December 22, 2020, at his home in the Australian city of Perth.

Odinazoda is a biochemist who worked as a lecturer at the University of Western Australia for over ten years. According to official information, in February 2020, the Australian police began an investigation into Abdusalom Odinazoda after he posted a series of “videos calling for the overthrow of the government in Tajikistan and the establishment of a caliphate” on YouTube.

“Abdusalom Odinazoda came to the attention of federal authorities in February 2020 after it became known that he had posted content on social media ‘calling for acts of politically motivated violence’ in Tajikistan. Two months later, the Australian Federal Police conducted searches at the home of the 54-year-old scientist and seized several electronic devices. However, it was not until December that the former biochemist was officially charged with propaganda of terrorism, which carries a penalty of up to 6 years in prison,” Australian media reported at the time.

In an interview with Radio Ozodi, Odinazoda stated that at that time the authorities reviewed 16 videos he had posted online and concluded that they contained “propaganda of terrorism.” According to him, he did not take all the blame, but confirmed that he had crossed a conditional “red line” at that time.

During the court proceedings against Odinazoda in the Australian district court, it was noted that “the defendant spoke in his videos about the inspiring influence of the ‘Taliban’ in Afghanistan and the ‘Islamic State’ in Syria.” These videos, it was noted in court, had been viewed over 1.6 million times, with 78% of the views coming from the Russian Federation and 12% from Tajikistan. Now, Abdusalom Odinazoda stated that he would continue his activities on social media but would “be more cautious.”

“Now, with a criminal record, I cannot return to work at the university. Currently, I live on government benefits provided to the unemployed,” he said. Abdusalom Odinazoda is 56 years old, has lived in Australia for a long time, and holds citizenship of that country. At one time, he returned to Tajikistan and worked there, but then moved back to Australia.

In Tajikistan, he is wanted for “extremism”: Tajik authorities reported in 2018 that a criminal case had been initiated against Abdusalom Odinazoda under two articles of the Criminal Code – public calls for violent change of constitutional authority and calls for extremist activities via the Internet.